Producing jobs is key for Indian reservations

Editorial from the Sioux Falls Argus Leader newspaper and is expressly the opinion of the writer, not the Minneapolis Fed.

If South Dakota lawmakers are serious about creating jobs on the
nine Indian reservations in the state as they have said, then they
should do something about it. The opportunity is there.

Rep. Ron Volesky, D-Huron, plans to introduce legislation that
would create the first State-Tribal Economic Development Commission
in South Dakota to promote general economic development and job
training on reservations.

There has been a suffocating deluge of forums and discussions
about advancing the economic status of the state's Indian population.
There is little, if anything, to show for all the talk. Late last
year, lawmakers said they had taken the first step by focusing attention
on the need for job creation on the reservations.

It is now time for the all-important second step, and it must
be a giant one. Legislation must be passed to ensure that something
concrete is done on the reservations in the area of economic development.
Support on both sides of the aisle will be critical. The unemployment
rate on most reservations is 50 percent or higher. Except for casino
gambling, there have been very few forward-looking ideas to reduce
reservation unemployment.

The lack of jobs and related poverty fosters other problems, including
crime, alcohol abuse, spousal abuse, violence and broken families.
Jobs are not going to be a cure-all to those problems, but putting
people to work will eliminate a significant portion of them.

Volesky, who is an American Indian, believes job creation will
solve "90 percent" of the social problems.

Economic development on the reservations becomes more crucial
with the advent of welfare reform on the federal level.

"With the block grants coming down from the federal government
and block grants going to our Indian reservations with the requirement
that a certain number of welfare recipients find employment in a
certain time, it is critical that we get serious about job development
and economic development on our state's reservations," Volesky says.

Initial funding of the commission would be $200,000: The state
would contribute half, and the tribal governments in South Dakota
would provide the balance.

Distributing state dollars is always a balancing act, but Volesky
says every job created on a reservation could help save a family.